By ELIANNA SPITZER
You’re miserable. Coughing, sniffling, fevered, chilled… everything hurts—even your hair, you’d swear on a stack of tissues.
Science still hasn’t found a cure, but a few centuries back somebody came up with a pretty good idea to turn down the volume on all this suffering: a shot of whiskey, lemon juice, honey and hot water.
Cheers to the Hot Toddy!
How the toddy had its founding is the stuff of lore: Many say that in the 18th century, Scottish drinkers concocted the brew to lessen the harshness of their whisky, according to Telegraph writer Barbara Rowland. She consulted with Charlie MacLean of Whiskey Magazine, who, through extensive research, believes he uncovered the origins of the drink. It turns out, raw Scotch in the 18th century was “unpalatable.” Scots mixed it with dates, sugar, nuts and cinnamon to dull the harshness of the liquor. “Toddy” may have Scottish origins as well. “The word probably comes from Tod’s well, a spring located on Arthur’s Seat, one of the four hills overlooking Edinburgh, which was one of the city’s early water supplies,” Ms. Rowland wrote.
Others credit an Irish doctor named Robert Bentley Todd, who ordered his patients to drink hot brandy, cinnamon and sugar water, and that the concoction was named in his honor. Still others contend that the libation came into being in British-controlled India in the early 17th century, and credit the Hindi word “taddy,” which means “beverage made from fermented palm sap.”
Well, regardless of where it came from, the drink made its way to Cape Cod, along with the rum of the New World, to help soothe the long winters here on the shores of the North Atlantic.
It wasn’t until the drink had already been invented that people began investigating using it for medicinal purposes. A popular drink for those suffering from the common cold, hot toddies have become somewhat of a cure-all home remedy. The actual health benefits of a hot toddy are widely disputed. However, lemon juice, one of the main stay ingredients in a hot toddy, does have some proven health effects.
The sweet, tart flavor provides a powerful kick of vitamin C in your diet. Popular “immunity boosts” like Emergen-C and Airborne Supplements tout their high levels of vitamin C. The actual effects of upping your vitamin C intake once sick are unclear. However, a severe lack of vitamin C could lead to additional sicknesses. Sea faring Cape Codders will surely recognize “scurvy” a disease known for plaguing sailors who become vitamin C deficient during long stints at sea.
That being said, hot toddies have the same benefits as any warm drink when you’ve been saddled with the common cold. In 2008 researchers at the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University found that hot drinks had a notable impact on subjects. “The hot drink provided immediate and sustained relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness and tiredness, whereas the same drink at room temperature only provided relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough and sneezing.”
Building upon this finding, while bourbon or Scotch may be popular ingredients, they are by no means necessary to enjoy a hot toddy and reap its benefits. Try supplementing the alcohol for grapefruit juice to add a sour punch while upping your vitamin C intake. Add in some leftover apple cider to deepen the toddy’s flavor.
Another essential hot toddy ingredient, cinnamon, bridges the gap between hot toddies and other popular fall drinks. It tops warm chai lattes, compliments apples brewed into cider, and adds a kick to just about any cold-weather recipe. But cinnamon has taken a backseat in recent years to a different spice. When discussing fall food and drinks, there is one flavoring that has surpassed all others in fall consciousness: pumpkin spice.
The release of pumpkin-themed items is the fall curmudgeon’s frustration every year. No doubt you have heard complaints of fall accessories arriving on store shelves too early and the ever-encroaching release date of the Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte. It seems like the famed latte returns to menus earlier and earlier each year.
The pumpkin spice latte phenomenon is relatively young. Pumpkin spice lattes blossomed in popularity over the last 16 (yes, 16) years. Starbucks released its PSL in 2003, and in 2015, Forbes reported that the drink brought in more than $100 million in sales for the company.
Pumpkin spice is not really a “spice.” It is a combination of syrup flavorings, including pumpkin puree, that tints a beverage or food orange. It often comes with a high calorie count. The Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte has been criticized for ringing in at 380 calories.
This year, Starbucks doubled down with the release of its second pumpkin-themed drink: pumpkin cream cold brew. It is perhaps a harbinger for what is to come: pumpkin-themed drinks in July (gasp). It is also an acknowledgement that in many parts of America, summer heat lasts longer than it used to, extending past August and into September.
What makes this latte so synonymous with the changing of the leaves? Well, it should be noted that the PSL is perhaps the pinnacle of the fall-themed-food market, but by no means its origin.
Despite the recent celebrity, pumpkins have always been integral to the way Americans depict Fall. The fruit ripens at the tail-end of summer, and adorns patches ready for picking, in September and October. Pumpkins on doorsteps, their sides carved into grimacing faces, symbolize not only All Hollows’ Eve but the coming of Thanksgiving, and a slew of other holidays.
This symbolism, many suggest, is what helped elevate pumpkins to new marketing heights. Companies are selling something much greater than fruit when they mix pumpkin flavoring into their foods, beverages, and candles. They are selling comfort.
Think about fall themed colors: burnt orange, crimson, and gold. These colors are warm and warmth is the main focus of fall-themed foods, beverages and scents. For many Americans, changing leaves signal the coming of holidays, which means gathering with loved ones. Thanksgiving, the biggest fall holiday, is a time for eating copious amounts of savory food with friends and family. The traditional end to any Thanksgiving feast worth its merit is a pumpkin or apple pie, topped with a hefty scoop of vanilla ice cream. It is no surprise then, that fall scented candles often feature scents like apples, pumpkin, cinnamon and vanilla. These scents exude familiarity and comfort.
In times of stress or frustration, people turn to foods that bring back happy memories. It’s for this reason that pumpkin spice has captured the minds and hearts of so many Americans.
It’s the reason I went out to purchase a pumpkin spice latte the first time temperatures on Cape Cod dropped below 70.
The pumpkin spice craze has possibly reached a point of no return. At grocery stores you can purchase items only tangentially related to fall, now infused with pumpkin. Pumpkin tortilla chips pair with pumpkin salsa. Shake up any movie night with pumpkin spice popcorn and pumpkin spiced chocolates.
Local chefs are on board with pumpkin spice pancakes and an assortment of other fall-themed dishes. Pumpkin beer is so popular with independent breweries and large manufacturers alike that a quick Google search will have you scrolling through a plethora of articles ranking the different variations. Cape Cod Beer released its “Harvest” brew in August and its website tells of a “Coffee S’mores” beer in testing.
The verdict? While pumpkin spice lattes and other fall-themed foods may truly be a targeted marketing ploy, the psychological effect is notable.
If hot toddies, warm cider, hot cocoa and pumpkin spice lattes help you ease into the dark, sniffly days of deep winter here on the Upper Cape, by all means, drink up.